Swimming to lose weight?

So the debate goes on... can you lose weight by swimming?

I have heard so many theories and explanations that it makes me laugh. I will share a few;
- you cannot lose weight swimming because you don't sweat
- yes, you lose weight because your muscles work harder to make you float
- no because you are not on your feet

I am sure there are millions more, but that is the general idea of how people react to this topic. I want to answer this question for you, and explain my answer.

Losing weight is a math game, if more calories are being spent than being put in, you will lose weight. How you burn those calories can play a role, but in general calories out greater than calories in = weight loss, plain and simple.

If you take an average 155 - 165lb male, and make him do laps (frontstroke) at a moderate pace, he will burn roughly 560 calories per hour. That same individual can burn up to 705 doing extremely intense breaststroke for an hour. SO as you can see, swimming is efficient at burning calories.

Swimming is perhaps the single best cardio exercise (as in helping your heart) since your heart has to pump blood to every muscle group and all extremities at the same time. If you are looking for a fun exercise to help lower cholesterol, help lower blood pressure, lower your resting heart rate, and simply to feel good, swimming is a very safe bet.

It is not at the top of my list as a weight loss workout, but I would never turn anybody away from doing it. There are millions of people who have taken on swimming, and altered their diets and have lost immense amounts of weight.

Personally, swimming is part of my overall training routine. I do laps for about 30minutes once a week. I rotate between breast and front strokes, and added to my clean diet and other workouts, it is for sure helping my weight management and my overall health.

So, to sum it all up, so long as your diet is clean, and you are swimming at a moderate to rigorous pace, YES, swimming can benefit you in your weight loss journey.

Please feel free to follow me on twitter @trainwithoz or via my website www.mytraineroz.com